Pepperoni and Pen-Spinning

Mr. Chandler and I spent a couple hours at our favorite deli/pizza restaurant this evening. We regularly frequent this restaurant. (Is that redundant -- regularly frequent?) They make fantastic sandwiches and amazingly good pizza, and the family that owns it is extremely supportive of local teachers. Plus, they have free wireless internet, so it’s a nice place to get some work done. Because there was no school today (Veterans Day), I was really thinking of it like a Saturday. So I was surprised to see two of my students walking past the windows. They saw me and ran inside and came to talk to me. They were with their friend and his parents and were the first of many to arrive for a celebratory soccer-team dinner. I introduced my students Vi and Raleigh to Mr. Chandler, and they introduced me to their friend Tommy and to Tommy’s parents. We chatted for a moment, and then they ordered pizza and found a booth. The parents sat on one side of the booth, while the three boys sat on the opposite side. They were funny to watch – arguing over who got to sit by the window and generally acting more like 5th graders than 8th graders. I like the fact that they were so comfortable with the two adults and didn’t mind spending time with them. Most 8th graders these days just want to AVOID their parents. It was encouraging to see them spending wholesome time together. Another 8th grade student of mine showed up with his family as we were getting ready to leave. They were part of the incoming soccer group as well. His mom said hi to me and pointed out that I obviously can’t escape the students even on my days off, and I laughed and told her that I didn’t mind because they’re such great kids. She smiled and said, “Oh good, I’m glad you think that… because I’m ready to send them back to school now!”

While they waited for their pizza, all three boys were spinning pens. This pen-spinning is a trend that began last spring, and it drives me crazy. They used to spin pens and pencils during class until I outlawed it. I told my students that they weren’t allowed to spin anything because they weren’t very good at it, and that their pens and pencils made too much noise when they got dropped onto a desk. The students even purchase special spinning pens with flexible rings on the end; I assume the rings act as weights of some kind, as well as decorations and possibly cushions when the pen is dropped accidentally. The two boys in the pizza place tonight are probably my two best pen-spinners, and it's not hard to see why. Apparently, when they are outside my classroom, they practice incessantly. They sat across the booth from the adults spinning non-stop. Even when the pizza arrived, one of them continued to spin his pen while trying to take a bite of his piece of pizza!